Hey Hogwarts!
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: Yeah, it's been done. Harry Potter/HA! crossover: PS 118 is a school for witches and wizards educating them in muggle basics so they can function in both worlds. When the kids turn eleven, they're off to a wizarding school in Europe. It happens that most of the old gang are going to Hogwarts! Starts during "Chamber Of Secrets". Possible pairings, both mixed and canon. OCS NEEDED!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! I know, this is just SO original, right? The students of PS 118, older and all witches and wizards. But I put my own little spin on it. It starts in Harry's second year, so the students will be in the same year as Ginny, Luna, etc. You will probably notice a few characters missing. This is intentional. And also, this isn't strictly canonical, with the idea of Muggle schooling being mandatory for all witches and wizards, and it being explained to muggleborns at a younger age, rather than when they first get their letter. The romantic scene rumoured where Helga and Arnold kissed in "The Jungle Movie" did not exist in this version, although the movie itself existed, and Arnold found his parents.**

**Disclaimer: Everything you recognize either goes to J.K Rowling or Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon. Now, enjoy, and please review!**

Outside of the families and teachers, no one really knew what was different about the kids at PS 118. Only when the child had to start at a school, would their family been told that they had to go to that one school. In Hillwood, there were several public schools, but PS 118 was special.

It was a school designed especially for young witches and wizards. After elementary school, the magical students would have to attend one of the many magical boarding schools in Europe, but the Ministry of Magic had recently realized the importance of what they called "Muggle-based" schooling, and as such, they had set up schools for students that were mandatory before they began their magical education at one of the schools in Europe. The school would teach basic skills, as magic schools did not teach core mathematical subjects or literacy. PS 118 was one of those schools. Before each child in Hillwood started school, a Ministry official would explain to the child's family that they were magical, and were required to attend PS 118. Once they graduated elementary school, they would be accepted at a wizarding boarding school.

The school was made specifically for magical children for several reasons. The purebloods, and some half-bloods, had to take a class called "Muggle Studies", in which they would learn about things that they needed to know so as to function in both worlds. That was becoming more important every day, especially as the amount of muggleborns in the world were growing, and it was important for the wizarding world and the non-magic world to be able to work together, although magic was hidden from the majority. Also, all witches and wizards were expected to perform accidental magic before they got their wand. The staff were used to it, and knew how to deal with it.

In fact, although it was still the 90s, and relations between the worlds were minimal, some witches and wizards had opted to get muggle qualifications to get a job in the world. A former PS 118 student, a half-blood named Olga Pataki, was a good example. After she'd finished her school education in a British magical school (with top marks in everything), she went on to a normal university, and since then, she'd almost stopped using magic, except to dote on her parents when she was home. In fact, for the Pataki family, magic wouldn't become much of an issue again up until now, as Olga's younger sister's class was graduating, and they'd soon split and go to different wizarding schools.

The class had become closer since their trip to the jungle in San Lorenzo, but they were all looking forward to their graduation, and couldn't wait for the next September, when they would finally start at their new school. All of them had excitedly talked about it.

Most of them were headed to Hogwarts, a magic school in Britain which was a bit more relaxed than some of the other British schools. It was the only school in Europe that accepted muggleborn students. Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd, one of the purebloods, had hoped to go to Beauxbatons, but as it was a French school, her parents didn't want her to have to learn a new language. Besides, only Hogwarts actually accepted muggleborn students, so that was the only school they could go to.

Not all of the students were going there, but most were. There were a couple of students going somewhere else, but on the whole, most of the students of that year would be staying together. They were happy, since they'd made a lot of good friends, and would have missed them.

Although she'd never show it, Helga Pataki felt lucky that so many others were going to Hogwarts. She'd still be there with Phoebe Heyerdahl, her best friend and sidekick, but that wasn't the best thing. Over the years, she'd had an insanely confusing relationship with Arnold...well, she didn't know his last name yet, but she was sure she'd hear it at graduation. Anyway, it didn't matter, but from the day they'd met, she'd been hopelessly in love with him, and to her, it was wonderful that they'd still be at the same school. Although, she could admit, things had been getting a little weird with him.

Helga had first met Arnold in preschool, and from then on, she'd covered her feelings by picking on Arnold. She was so terrified of rejection and being bullied herself, that her defence mechanism kicked in and nearly everyone in her class was scared of her. She didn't want Arnold to reject her if she confessed to him, so she pretended to hate him the most. But then, during an episode when they thought Arnold's neighbourhood was going to be knocked down, Helga decided she was going to help save it, in spite of the fact that her family would get rich off it. This meant anonymously contacting Arnold and his best friend Gerald Johanssen to give them the info they needed, as they were trying to save the neighbourhood single-handedly. She'd been in disguise (using stilts and a trench coat) and using a voice distorter whenever she called them, but Arnold caught her on the rooftop of a building, and unmasked her. When he asked her why she was helping them, she'd blurted out everything about how she felt. But they passed it off as being in the heat of the moment.

Now things had gone back to normal. Helga continued to have a frenemy relationship with Arnold (picking on him nearly all of the time, but many times they helped each other out) and he continued to wonder whether she really loved him or not, but neither of them brought up how they felt about each other. Helga continued to secretly talk to and practically worship the shrine in her closet, monologue to her treasured locket with Arnold's photo in it, and write volume after volume of love poetry, while Arnold simply seemed to pretend nothing ever happened.

But as long as she would still see Arnold every day, things would be fine.

The other students were really excited, although the ones that would be split up were saying their goodbyes and giving yearbook autographs to everyone in sight. Graduation came and went. Rhonda held a graduation party for everyone, which was pretty good.

Then came the summer. Everyone spent as much time as possible hanging out with their friends for the rest of June and July. Those that hadn't received their acceptance letters got theirs on their birthdays.

Then it was trips to Diagon Alley, and studying for some of the students. Some, like Phoebe, enjoyed reading their course materials. Others hated it.

Then September the first arrived, and it was time to start at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**I know, a lot of explanation and set up. It was needed. The next chapter will be more interesting, I swear. Please review!**

**Also, I need more first year students. So far, I only have Ginny, Luna Lovegood, Colin Creevey, and Astoria Greengrass (I don't know what year she was in, but tough). Please, submit a first year. I especially need Hufflepuffs. It'll only take a second. These are the qualifications:**

**Name:**

**Blood status: **

**House: **

**Personality: (this doesn't need to contain too much)**

**Relationships with characters: (this is crushes, enemies, friends, etc.)**

**So, please review, but even more, PLEASE submit a first year.**


	2. Chapter 2

**OK, here's our next chapter. Thank you so much for your reviews, inuyashasmikogurl18656 and both guest reviewers!**

Everyone had been told how to get onto Platform 9¾ before, so everyone got on the train in good time. Helga and Phoebe found empty compartment straightaway, and they started talking.

"I've been reading up on the houses." Phoebe said. Being a muggleborn student, she didn't know much about the school, but she'd found out as much as she could. "Have you thought about what house you want to be in?"

Helga shrugged. "No, not really. Olga was in Ravenclaw, so anywhere but there, I guess."

The door slid open and a slightly older girl with frizzy hair already in her uniform looked in. "Oh, hi." she said with a shy smile. "Are you new?"

The girls nodded. "I'm Hermione Granger." the frizzy-haired girl said. "I was just looking for my friends. Have you seen a boy with red hair and a boy with dark hair and glasses?"

"No, sorry." Phoebe said.

"Are they your boyfriends?" Helga smirked a bit.

Hermione frowned a bit at her mocking tone. "They're my _friends_. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." she emphasized the word 'friends'. "I was just asking, because I saw Ron's family, but he wasn't with them."

Helga and Phoebe remembered Harry's name from the textbooks, but neither commented. They knew that he'd been the one to make the most evil wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort, disappear when he was only a baby. But neither commented on the fact that they'd just met a friend of someone famous.

Phoebe spoke up quickly before she could leave. "So what year are you in? Can you tell us what it's like?"

"Oh, it's wonderful, the lessons are really interesting, and you learn so much!" Hermione said enthusiastically, sitting down next to Phoebe. "I'm a second year, in Gryffindor." She proceeded to give Phoebe a run-down of every class and every teacher. "We have Professor Lockhart for Defence Against the Dark Arts this year. He's done all these amazing things that he wrote all these books about. Last year we had Professor Quirrell, but stuff happened, I'll explain later."

Helga sighed and stared out the window. "Great." she muttered. "Five minutes and my best friend's already buddied up with some other girl." She went off by herself while Phoebe and Hermione were still deep in conversation. She passed a compartment where Rhonda was flirting with a couple of older boys. She thought she might as well get changed into her robes, and she did so before walking further down. Then she saw a compartment where Arnold and Gerald were conversing with Sid, Harold, and an excitable looking boy with a camera.

Helga stared for a moment, then looked around. No one was out of their compartment in the passage, and so she was on her own. She took out her Arnold locket, sighing in her usual lovesick way. "A new start at a new school. Oh, Arnold, will this be the push I finally need so I can, once again, express my less-than-secret feelings without covering it up the way I always do? My own taste of real Amortentia, will I ever be able to freely tell you of my love?"

She heard heavy breathing behind her, and didn't need to look around as she punched Brainy in the face. She would never be able to break her habit of doing that. She went back to her compartment. Hermione was still there, but next to her and Phoebe were a bunch of items.

Phoebe looked up and smiled at her. "Hey, Helga. Hermione was just telling me all about the house system. Oh, and the sweets trolley came by." She held out a Chocolate Frog. "Want one?"

"Thanks, Pheebs." Helga said, taking it. She eyed the rest of the candy. "Hey, could you pass me one of those Pumpkin Pasties while you're at it?"

"Passing!" Phoebe chirped brightly, doing just that.

Meanwhile, Lila had found a compartment with a young redhead that she'd seen with a bunch of redheaded boys on the platform. The girl's parents had helped her find a good compartment, and Lila had gone to sit down in the same place.

"Hi!" she said. "I'm Lila Sawyer. What's your name?"

"Oh...Ginny." the redhead answered. "Ginny Weasley. I'm a first-year."

"Me too!" Lila smiled. She recognized the name Weasley, since being a pureblood, she knew pretty much all of the pureblooded wizarding names (although they were blood traitors, just like the Sawyers). "I'm ever so excited about starting here. Do you know what house you'll be in yet?"

"Well, my whole family has been in Gryffindor." Ginny said. "I've had six brothers here so far. Four of them still go here. I've got a lot to live up to." She looked very nervous about starting.

"I'm hoping to be in Gryffindor, too." Lila said. "But I'm an only child. My dad was in Hufflepuff, and I think my mom was in Ravenclaw, although I didn't ever get to know her. Still, I know a lot of people here, this year. Most of my class from my old school are going here."

Ginny sighed. "I was home-schooled. My dad knows a lot about Muggles, so I could get all the information I needed without going to school. So I don't know anyone in my year."

"Well, you know me." Lila said brightly. "I can introduce you to a few others, too. I mean, you should meet some of them, like Arnold, for example, is probably the nicest boy you could meet. He's always giving really good advice and everyone likes him. And there's also Phoebe, she's pretty quiet, but she's ever so generous and she nearly skipped two grades. She'll help out pretty much anyone if they ask – just make sure you don't get on the wrong side of her best friend. I'll explain it later, I can point some of them out at the Sorting."

Soon, the students found themselves at the end of the line. As the first years got off the train, they immediately heard a voice calling the first years over. It was Hagrid, the gamekeeper. A couple of the muggleborns looked a bit nervous at his size, but things went OK. The students just had to take boats across the lake to get to the castle for the first time, four to a boat. Lila immediately paired up with Ginny, who she'd talked to the whole way there, and when she saw Arnold and Gerald, called them over and introduced them to Ginny.

Helga fumed as she saw Lila sharing her boat with Arnold, Gerald, and some redheaded girl. She was sharing with Phoebe, and she also got stuck with Sheena and some blonde girl that seemed to be daydreaming all the time. By this time, she wasn't in a good mood. First, Phoebe had talked to Hermione for a lot of the train ride (who seemed to be a kindred spirit, as they were both the brainiacs of their age), and the fact that Arnold was sharing a boat with Lila, who he had had a crush on for a long time, didn't exactly help, although she knew he didn't "like her-like her" any more. Even when Helga got her first glimpse of Hogwarts, the majestic beauty of the building didn't bring her spirits up.

Then they were led up to the doors, and were told by Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress, to wait in the hall until the rest of the school was ready for them.

**The Sorting will be next chapter. Please review! Also, a trivia question: I saw a Nickelodeon bumper in which had the line: "I wanna hang with Arnold's gang and save the neighbourhood". If you were a member of the gang, who would you want to be? If it wasn't for the emotional rollercoaster Helga's on nearly all the time, I'd be her, but as it is, I'm going with Phoebe.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Helga: Hey, SideshowJazz1, start writing this chapter! We have to be Sorted already!**

**Me: Writing! Oh yeah, but don't expect me to act like Phoebe every time you try to order me around. This is for the readers. And yes, now I know Astoria is a year younger than she is in this, but I'm making her Ginny's age in this version.**

**Arnold: Don't forget the reviewers, Jazz. Thank you, BettyAwesome715 and Guest.**

The students talked in the hall while they waited. Well, some of them did. Brainy didn't, of course. He simply watched. Rhonda was showing off to Nadine about the boys she'd been flirting with. "And the blonde said he's going to be on the Quidditch team this year. I told him about how good I am at flying, and all that...I don't know why my parents haven't had his family over before, he said his mom is a Black, and that means his dad has to be from a pureblood family, too. Speaking of which..." She surveyed the crowd, and her eyes settled on a dark-haired girl. "Hey, Astoria!"

The girl looked over, and smiled a little. "Hi, Rhonda." she said formally, though politely. "Nice to see your parents decided to send you here too. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Nadine." Rhonda answered. "I met her in school."

Before any more conversation could continue, the first years were called in. The Sorting Hat sang its song about how it would sort everyone, then each student was called up, one by one.

The boy most of the PS 118 boys had been in a compartment with was called up early, as his name was Colin Creevey. He was one of the new Gryffindors. However, before him, Harold was called up. He was put into Slytherin. However, since he was older than most of the students, he was immediately put into third year. He was still a year behind, but there was no way he could catch up that far in the curriculum.

Then, after several other students were Sorted, the next PS 118 student in the group was called up. "Gammelthorpe, Thaddeus!" Curly, as he was known, didn't look nervous as he went up. In fact, he still had that manic, slightly creepy trademark smile on his face throughout. The Sorting Hat, as usual, talked to him, although no one else could hear.

"So, a little bit of an outsider, huh? Not one of the sheep? Very interesting – a bit of a tendency to snap at times, and a lot of passion. Your more diabolical tendencies mean you would be good in Slytherin. But you have a lot of inner courage, so_..._no, I still think you belong in...SLYTHERIN!"

The table cheered as Curly pulled the hat off and ran down. Then "Greengrass, Astoria" was called up, and put into Slytherin too.

There was only one more person called before "Heyerdahl, Phoebe!"

Unlike those before her, Phoebe looked terrified. Helga, in an unusual flash of empathy for her friend, whispered "Don't worry, Pheebs." and gave her a little push in the direction of the Hat.

The Hat nearly covered half of Phoebe's face, but the minute it was on, it shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

Things continued. Eugene and Sheena were both sorted into Hufflepuff. The Hat took some time Sorting Gerald, but eventually chose Gryffindor. Rhonda was straightaway sent to Slytherin, and after some deliberation, the Hat put Nadine there, too. Brainy was put in Ravenclaw. Meanwhile, a few other students were Sorted. The dreamy blonde girl that had been in the same boat as some of the other girls was called Luna Lovegood, and she was called up just before Nadine. She was a Ravenclaw, like Phoebe.

The Os were called, and then "Pataki, Helga!"

Helga felt nervous, but she knew she shouldn't show it. The Hat found it very hard to sort her. _"_Hmm, very difficult. I had one just like you last year. I can see some courage in you...oh, and a lot of intelligence! I can see some kindness and loyalty...but you are afraid to show that part of your personality. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff definitely are not the places for you. Ravenclaw is closer, but...no, I don't think you would fit there. But I can see your ambition, and...oh, you have a lot more cunning than I've seen in a few years."

"_Criminy, sort me already, would you?_" Helga thought impatiently.

"All right, all right." The Hat said. "You will go far in...SLYTHERIN!"

Most of the other students looked at the new girl suspiciously. Most Slytherins were Sorted straight off. Phoebe gave Helga the thumbs-up from the Ravenclaw table in reassurance as her friend slipped off the stool and sat down next to Astoria.

Sid was called up soon enough, and put into Hufflepuff. Then Lila was called. The Hat didn't deliberate for long before it put her in Gryffindor.

"Shortman, Arnold!"

Helga was immediately interested when his name was called. She hoped against hope that he'd be in Slytherin with her, but she knew how different she was from him. The odds were stacked against her.

There was a pause, and then...

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hufflepuff table cheered as Arnold went to sit down next to Sid.

Now there were only a few students left. Ginny was second-to-last, and she was quickly put in Gryffindor with the rest of her family.

The feast began, and all the new students began talking and listening to the other students pointing out things they needed to know. The houses all had a different feel to them, that let the students know how to adapt to survive with their peers. The Gryffindor students were all bold and open, talking happily with nothing to hide. The Hufflepuff students weren't as in-your-face, but they were open and friendly, tactful and very accepting. The Ravenclaw students were more reserved and judgemental. They talked about more academic subjects, telling the new students about the classes before the teachers and other things. The Slytherins were the most judgemental, and the first-years soon learned to be careful about what they said. Rhonda seemed completely at ease as she greeted several of the students, knowing them since their families were friends or business partners with her parents. Nadine knew some of them too, but she was too shy to talk to them without Rhonda prompting her. Helga stayed silent, mostly. She knew that she'd have to act as confident as usual to survive in Slytherin, but for now, she'd keep silent. Curly stayed quiet, too...never a good sign. He was watching Rhonda from across the table.

Over in Gryffindor, Lila was fast making herself popular with the other students. She always had material for a funny story, and complimented people naturally. At one moment, she saw one of the girls looking worried, and asked her "Is there something wrong?"

"I think something's happened to my friends." the girl said anxiously. "They weren't on the train. Once they get here, they'll probably be in huge trouble!"

"So are you in second year?" Lila asked.

The girl nodded. "Hermione Granger." she introduced herself.

"Lila Sawyer." Lila smiled at her in her usual reassuring way.

Then came the start-of-term notices, from Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster. For the first years, there was the usual warning about not going into the Forbidden Forest and the banned items, as well as welcoming their new teacher. After that, pretty much everyone was sent up to their common rooms.

In the Gryffindor common room, rumours started flying around about Hermione's friends. Evidently, they'd arrived in a flying car and were expelled on arrival.

"Did they say _Weasley_?" Lila asked Ginny. "Isn't that your surname?"

Ginny nodded. "They're talking about Ron. He's only a year older than me, the second youngest in my family."

When Hermione entered with Ron and Harry in tow, it turned out they hadn't been expelled, but they had taken a flying car to get to Hogwarts.

The first-years in Hufflepuff mostly went up to bed straightaway. It had been a tiring day for all of them. Ditto the Ravenclaws, although Phoebe still had some energy, chattering about how excited she was for the classes.

The Slytherin common room and the dorms were a bit dark and depressing. Most of the first-years went up to bed straightaway, but by the time they were all ready for bed, Rhonda had already established her place as queen bee among the other girls, and Nadine, as her sidekick, was untouchable.

But all the new students had one thing in common: they all wondered what the first day at a new school would bring.

**So...do you think I chose the right places for the students? Some of them were no-brainers, but others...I had a difficult time Sorting Helga (her personality conflicts with itself), and Arnold probably could have just made it into Gryffindor (But he's loyal, diligent and unusually nice and optimistic, all Hufflepuff traits). But I did test them on a Pottermore-modelled quiz, so I know that characters like Lila and Rhonda are in the right place.**

**Please review and tell me how you would've Sorted everyone!**


	4. Chapter 4

**OK, then. Let's continue, shall we? Thanks for your review, BettyAwesome715.**

**Oh, and for those of you that didn't reread Chapter 3, Curly is now in Slytherin. I changed it.**

The first-years got their timetables the next day. In each class, the students of one house would be paired with one other house. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had Potions together, and so did the Gryffindors and Slytherins. History of Magic had the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, and the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had Herbology together, and so did the Ravenclaws and Slytherins, and so on. Transfiguration and Charms was the same as History Of Magic, Astronomy was the same as Herbology, and Defence Against The Dark Arts and Flying was the same as Potions.

The students soon got to know the teachers. The majority of teachers were very strict and were intent on getting the best out of their students.

Transfiguration was one of the harder subjects, and Professor McGonagall was one of the most tough of teachers. At the beginning, the students had to try to turn matchsticks into needles. The quickest PS 118 student to pick it up was, surprisingly, Nadine. She'd never excelled in the basic subjects, but she was the only one to turn her matchstick pointy and silvery within the first lesson. Phoebe managed to make her matchstick pointy, but that was pretty much it.

Herbology was a lot of fun for the students that enjoyed gardening. As such, Helga didn't do too well at it, but Arnold enjoyed it a lot. Professor Sprout wasn't the most strict teacher, but she was very good, and although this year's class wasn't exciting, it was enjoyable.

Charms was one of the more enjoyable subjects. Professor Flitwick might've been small in stature, but he was a good teacher. However, learning the wand movement meant that Eugene, the jinx, nearly took someone's eye out or knocked himself over whenever he waved his wand. That would follow with his signature "I'm okay."

Potions was a mixed bag, on the whole. On the one hand, Professor Snape definitely knew his subject and had serious discipline. On the other hand, he just didn't know how to get the best out of eleven-year-olds. He was head of Slytherin house, and was biased towards them. Helga, Rhonda, Nadine and Harold usually got let off when they didn't do too well. On the other hand, the other students learned that if they didn't want to get in trouble, they needed to be good at Potions. They discovered that as long as they were able to get things right, Snape would leave them alone. But he was really awful to the students that weren't as good at Potions. Poor Sheena got told off a lot, since she got very nervous when brewing, while Phoebe was very precise and was basically ignored, since her potions were always spot on. The Gryffindors in particular got in the most trouble. Helga smirked to herself when Lila lost Gryffindor 10 points for accidentally miscounting the number of times she stirred her potion and therefore messing it up. She actually found that she was very good at Potions, and she soon became a favourite.

Astronomy was a class the students got up at night for, and it was lovely to see the British night sky, without all of the streetlights that lit up Hillwood at night. Helga's romantic side wished Hufflepuff had Astronomy with them, but she was glad that Phoebe was in the same class as her, since she found the class hard and Phoebe was fast becoming an expert at the positions of the stars and the planets.

History of Magic was boring. Professor Binns was a ghost, and he just droned on, not noticing whether the students were listening or not – most of them weren't. Half the students napped, and Binns didn't even notice when Harold started snoring. Since the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were together, Helga alternated her time in classes between daydreaming about Arnold, and flicking spitballs at him, the way she had back at home. He ignored her most of the time, but he'd always get the usual response when he turned to glare at her: "What?"

Flying wasn't a hugely important lesson, but most of the students enjoyed it. Quidditch season hadn't begun, and it was almost unheard of for a first year to join the house team, but it was still fun to learn how to navigate their broomsticks. Only Eugene seemed to have trouble with it, but then he was expected to. And for the first few weeks, he managed to stay out of the hospital wing.

Defence Against The Dark Arts was the only class that was really and truly awful. Olga had told her family that people said the job was jinxed, because none of the teachers lasted longer than a year. This year, they had Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. A few of the girls had a crush on him because he was very good looking, but everyone else hated him. He was self-absorbed. He had written several books about his accomplishments in the area of Dark Arts, but he proved absolutely useless. Gerald told Arnold that he'd heard the second years talking about how he'd freed a bunch of Cornish pixies during their class and they'd started wreaking havoc. Lockhart couldn't stop them, so he'd told three of the students to round them up – in fact, it was the two students that had driven the car to school, Ron and Harry, and Hermione, who it turned out was their best friend besides each other.

It was harder for the students to stay friends while in different houses. Lila and Rhonda had been good friends before Hogwarts, but Slytherin and Gryffindor hated each other with a passion. One of the sixth years had even warned Rhonda against associating with them, and soon enough, she kept her popular status among the Slytherins.

It was significantly easier without the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Although Gerald was fast making friends in Gryffindor, he and Arnold remained close. Ditto Phoebe and Helga, although shy Phoebe was starting to blossom and had made friends with most of the girls in her dorm, including Luna Lovegood, who, she admitted, was "a little strange, but very nice". Helga, on the other hand, wasn't having much luck with the Slytherins. She had talked to a couple of the second-year girls and exchanged greetings with most of the students, especially the younger ones, but she hadn't made any new friends. Rhonda ruled over the first-year Slytherin population, and it was taking a lot of time for Helga to cement her identity. Back at PS 118, she had a lot of influence, especially when it came to offensive tactics, although they'd backfired several times due to dumb luck (eg: playing tricks on Lila when she was new, and trying to keep Olga away when she was a student teacher). But now, she was just a small fish in a big pool, surrounded by kids who were more cunning, more vicious, and much tougher. Still, she knew she could warn the other kids that if they tried any hexes or curses on her, she'd hex them back – twice as badly!

**Yeah, another introductory chapter. I'll do some more next chapter. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**OK, now, let's get into the real story. Thanks for your review, BettyAwesome715.**

As days passed, different things happened around the school, and gossip ensued. On the first weekend, both the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams tried to practice early at the same time. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Captain, had booked the pitch, but it seemed that the Slytherin team needed it to train their new Seeker, by the name of Draco Malfoy. Rhonda had a little bit of a crush on him, and since she knew about the practise, she went to watch and persuaded Nadine to go with her, waking up the other two girls in their dorm in the process.

Astoria just sighed and quickly called their bathroom first, showering quickly then going back to their dorm to do her hair and put on the makeup that was allowed on weekends. Rhonda had to wait, and was none too pleased, but she got the second shower and by the time she was ready, Nadine had finished and both headed down to the Quidditch pitch together. Helga was the only girl left, and since she knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep, she, too, showered, brushed her hair (letting it go loose but keeping her pink bow) and headed down there, too.

Colin Creevey was also there, watching the Gryffindor team. The Slytherins had just arrived. The students could see the Gryffindor Seeker, which happened to be the famous Harry Potter. He was the youngest player in a century, having made the team in his first year. Ron and Hermione were standing with him. By the time Helga arrived, the Slytherin team was laughing at something. The spectators caught Hermione's next words.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent."

"Honestly!" Rhonda muttered. Being a rich girl herself, she didn't appreciate Hermione's comment.

Draco's retort was acidic and cruel. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."

"How dare you!" screamed one of the Gryffindor Chasers. The Captain of the Slytherin team had to jump in front of Draco to stop the Weasley twins, who both played Beater, attacking him. Ron himself still managed to point his wand at Draco...but the spell he cast backfired and hit him instead.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked. But all that happened was a bunch of slugs coming out of Ron's mouth. Colin jumped up and joined them, asking Harry several questions. The Slytherins just found this very funny.

"Serves him right." Rhonda said with satisfaction. Helga said nothing. She'd laughed along with everyone else, seeing as Ron's predicament was funny, but she knew what "Mudblood" meant and although she didn't even like Hermione, she did feel a bit sorry for her.

Not that she'd ever mention it to anyone or defend Hermione, of course. The only person she'd ever even possibly defend in the case of that word was Phoebe.

The first-years were starting to branch out a bit by that time. There was no rule against sitting at each other's tables for lunch, although it wasn't usually done, so some of the kids started doing so. At lunchtime, Helga decided to invite herself to sit with Phoebe at the Ravenclaw table, and ordered her around the way she usually did. Phoebe didn't mind, but plenty of the other students looked shocked. Even Cho Chang from third year was staring. An Indian-looking girl whispered something to a tall brunette.

"What are you all staring at?" Helga demanded aggressively. "I get it, I'm not in this house. But Phoebe's my friend, so get used to it." Of course, Brainy was also a Ravenclaw, but Helga made sure she and Phoebe sat far away from him.

A couple of times, Lila and Gerald went to the Hufflepuff table. The tolerant house didn't seem too bothered, and after all, several of the PS 118 students were in Hufflepuff. However, the kids didn't always stick together.

Lila had become firm friends with Ginny. She'd also gotten Ginny to introduce her to her other siblings at the school. She was very friendly and charming to her sixth year prefect brother, Percy, although she admitted to herself that he was "_ever so disapproving of a lot." _Fred and George, the twins from fourth year, were much more easygoing, and Lila liked them, although once they knew she was friends with Ginny, they teased her as much as they teased their sister. Finally, Ginny introduced Lila to Ron, the second year. She liked him, too, although he was frequently idiotic. As a result of meeting Ron, she was also introduced to Harry and Hermione, both of who she liked very much.

But she was closest of all to Ginny. She also happened to be the only student who knew her friend had a secret diary, although she had the feeling that there was something about it that Ginny wasn't telling her.

On that weekend, Ginny left the diary lying around for the first time. Lila was up in the dorm rooms when she saw it. She felt a compulsion to open it. "_I know it's ever so wrong to read a private diary...but I just want to ever so much..." _Lila battled with her conscience for a moment, but the call became too much for her. "_Even if Ginny finds out, she probably won't mind ever so much, since I'm her friend." _she tried to rationalize. "_And I won't tell her. She'll never know, anyway."_

But the pages all seemed blank. Lila thought about it, and wondered why. _"I know I've seen her writing in it..." _She had a thought. "_This must be a different diary. I should have known. Ginny's diary seems oh so precious to her, so I'm certain she would never leave it lying around. Maybe I'll ask her about it."_

As she was thinking, Lila twirled a newly ink-filled quill in one of her hands. The ink dripped from the pen, and disappeared onto the paper.

Lila stared. Then she decided to write experimentally. "_Lila Sawyer." _she wrote. The writing faded, and new writing faded in.

"_Hello, Lila Sawyer. My name is Tom Riddle."_

"_Are you possessing Ginny's diary, or is this something else?" _Lila wrote.

"_Ginny Weasley?" _Riddle said. "_The girl who's been writing in my diary already?"_

"_She's my newest friend. I knew I shouldn't have opened this, but I just wanted to look at what she'd written ever so much."_

"_You seem like a very sensible girl." _Riddle wrote back. "_Very moral too."_

Lila smiled. It felt strange to be writing to someone in her friend's diary, but would Ginny mind so much? Lila felt a thrill. She was always the nice, good girl. But now...she felt like letting go of her good-girl image for a moment. It wasn't that easy to be perfect, although she usually didn't mind. So she felt that she simply must have a guilty pleasure. "_I'm ever so certain that he's right. Ginny won't mind." _Lila thought hopefully, although she knew it wasn't true.

"_No, I'll give it back to her." _Lila thought, conflicted between doing the right thing and writing to the mysterious boy who used to own the diary. She wanted to get to know him...but this was Ginny's diary, not hers. She thought for a moment...then made her decision.

**So...any Lila haters or fans out there? I don't like Lila much, but I like her character, and her oh so annoying speech patterns are ever so fun to write. So now...review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I might just skip to Halloween...thanks for reviewing, BettyAwesome715!**

Life was pretty much routine at Hogwarts. It wasn't bad, but once getting into the routine was done, it was easy. The first-years got to know the names of everyone in their year group, and most of the students in their house, and their group of friends had grown significantly.

Arnold had become popular very quickly with the Hufflepuffs, of course. His optimism and general kindness were both traits very well liked – and it didn't hurt that he was pretty mature for his age and was great at giving advice. He was popular outside of his house, mostly, although most of the Slytherins sneered at him. Rhonda was getting worse and worse. She'd always been a bit of a snob and very critical, but now she was as bad as most of the Slytherin purebloods. She even refused to talk to Phoebe, just because she was muggleborn.

Sheena and Eugene were getting on well in Hufflepuff, too. People didn't judge them for being geeky in their house. Nor did they judge Sid for overreacting over several things.

Gerald was becoming increasingly popular among the Gryffindors. He'd always been the "cool" kid at PS 118, the laid-back sporty kid who claimed to know all about how to deal with girls...of course, his popularity had nothing to do with the fact that even some of the second years had a bit of a crush on them. He'd seen Lavender Brown glancing over and then giggling with Parvati Patil. He'd also become friends with Colin Creevey, the picture-taking Potter-worshipping boy from his dorm. They weren't especially close, but being in the same house, it wasn't hard to become friends. After Colin's initial tendency to talk constantly faded, he seemed like an OK kid. However, Gerald didn't hang out with him too much, mainly because Colin's favourite pastime seemed to be trailing after Harry.

Curly had instantly become a point of gossip in Slytherin. He didn't have a particular friend, but when he got everyone's attention, he REALLY got everyone's attention. At first, the students didn't take him seriously, but when he proved he could really do what he claimed, he got a lot more respect. The Slytherins didn't like him, especially once they found out he was muggleborn, but he was so unpredictable, they left him alone. However, his general insanity had given him a chance to outwit Peeves, the resident troublemaking poltergeist, and they'd formed something of a mutual respect and even a friendship. Curly was also still obsessed with getting Rhonda's attention, and within two months, he'd been hexed by her several times.

Phoebe was basically in her element. Ravenclaws didn't usually judge people unless they were really out of the ordinary, so both she and Brainy weren't criticized for most eccentricities, like Phoebe occasionally talking in Japanese, or Brainy's constant heavy breathing. Luna was teased a bit, because of her recurring talk about some kind of creature who lived in mistletoe and a bunch of other things that seemed made up. Soon enough, nearly all of the other Ravenclaws called her Loony Lovegood. Phoebe was still her friend, but she frequently lost track of the things Luna talked about.

Apart from Phoebe, Helga had no one to really talk to. Most of the older Slytherins considered themselves above talking to first-years, especially monobrowed girls who still wore a pink bow in their hair and pink clothes on days when they didn't have to wear uniform. She wasn't welcome among the Gryffindors, not that she liked anyone there, anyway. But while Helga still longed to be close to Arnold, and he still frequently ran into her in the hallways, she couldn't hang out with the Hufflepuffs, and she still couldn't bring herself to be nice.

The routine never changed, but on Halloween, something exciting happened. It was just after the celebration feast, which was always a highlight. The students were just leaving the Great Hall, when they came across Harry, who was with Ron and Hermione. The first-years had noticed that the three second-years seemed inseparable. But above them, there was a stiff hanging animal, and a message: _The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware._

The stiff form was Mrs Norris, the cat belonging to Argus Filch, the caretaker. He seemed to hate the students.

A few of the first-years from PS 118 were in front, but Draco Malfoy pushed past them.

"Enemies of the heir, beware!" he announced. "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" At that moment, he felt a sharp shove behind him, and before he fell, he was spun around.

Helga hadn't bothered to take any notice of Draco's taunts earlier in the year. Apart from calling Hermione a Mudblood, he'd done other stuff. This was just half a step over the line, and she wasn't going to subject anyone to his crap. But at least she had a selfish excuse, rather than making it seem like she was defending the muggleborns of the school. She was at the front of the incident, and he painfully elbowed her to the side.

"Listen, blondie, don't ever push me out of your way again," she hissed. "Unless you want to be introduced to my wand, as well as these." She held up her fists, although she'd abandoned her childhood names for them in sixth grade. "Got it?"

Draco scowled at her, but she was physically stronger than him. She only let go when some of the staff appeared on the scene. "_Just you wait, Pataki." _Draco mouthed. Helga's reply was her old "It Girl" scowl.

Filch took one look at Mrs Norris and assumed that Harry had killed her, no matter how many times Harry denied it. "You killed her, I'll kill you!"

Luckily, most of the staff arrived on the scene and took care of the subject. Mrs Norris wasn't even dead, anyway, she was only Petrified. The second-years had been growing Mandrakes in class, and once they were ready, the plant could restore the cat and bring her back to life, so to speak. The trio of second years were taken off to the nearest office (Lockhart's) to be questioned.

That evening, in the Slytherin girls' dorms, Rhonda remarked about it. "I bet that Potter kid did kill the cat. We all hate Filch, and who cares that he's only twelve? He defeated You-Know-Who when he was a baby for no particular reason, so who's to say he doesn't have the power to kill?"

"I don't know, Rhonda." Nadine argued. "He doesn't seem so bad to me. I haven't spoken to him, but he doesn't seem like that type of wizard."

Rhonda laughed coldly. "Looks can be deceiving, you know. I, personally, am sure he had something to do with it."

"Shut up, princess." muttered Helga from the corner. She personally didn't care who did or didn't do it.

In the Gryffindor girls' dorms, Lila was curled up, writing in her diary. "_Seeing Mrs Norris hanging there...it was ever so creepy! I wonder what happened. I was at the feast, I think, but as far as I remember, everyone else was there, too. But I can't imagine that it was Harry or one of his friends – I've talked to them, and they're oh so nice."_

Hours before, Ginny had also written in her own diary. Yes, Lila had decided to leave it with her, knowing that it was the right thing to do. But she'd bought her own diary to write in, and while it didn't write back to her, she still felt like she was confiding to a friend.

**I'll end the chapter there. I've been thinking, is there anyone in Hogwarts now crazy enough to Petrify Mrs Norris if they had the means? Who do you think would do it? Anyone from PS 118? Review and tell me!**


	7. Chapter 7

**OK, so shall we start the next chapter? Thanks for reviewing, BettyAwesome715!**

Harry got a lot of negative attention from the students after Mrs Norris was Petrified. Ron and Hermione stood by him, but most of the students stayed well away. At one point, Helga saw a couple of second-year Hufflepuffs running away from him, and she simply sneered. Phoebe, who had become pretty friendly with Hermione, in spite of them being in different years and houses, didn't believe it was Harry either. She'd heard enough to know that he wouldn't do something like that for no apparent reason.

Ginny seemed especially shaken, and Lila couldn't work out why. She'd felt so much better after writing in her diary, while Ginny wrote much more than Lila, and yet she seemed worse than ever.

"Is everything OK, Ginny?" Lila asked a couple of nights after the incident.

"I'm fine." Ginny muttered. "Just...feeling a bit sad about Mrs Norris being Petrified."

"Did you write in your diary about it?" Lila asked tactfully. "That made me feel better."

Ginny nodded. "It's just that he...I mean...it doesn't make me feel any better because it seems like..."

"Like?" Lila prompted gently. She hadn't forgotten Riddle.

Ginny sighed. "It's like having a friend, my diary, but sometimes he feels like..."

Lila felt guilty for a moment. Than she decided to confess. "Um, Ginny, there's something I should probably tell you. You left your diary lying on your bed at the start of term. I know it was ever so wrong of me, but I accidentally dripped ink on it, and it disappeared. So I had a look inside, and I know you talk to someone in the diary."

Several expressions appeared on the redhead's face. Shock, betrayal, anger, and finally...acceptance. "That was a mean thing to do!" Ginny said calmly. "But that means...you know him?"

Lila nodded. "You're not the only one he talks to. I felt a kind of compulsion to talk to him a few more times, but you always had the diary. Did you tell him about the message on the wall?"

Ginny shook her head. "No."

"Do you think he might know something about it? Should you ask him?" Lila suggested. "Or maybe I could?"

Once it was out in the open, Ginny didn't have much choice in the matter. The two girls would have to share the diary.

Meanwhile, Hermione was always in the library. After Phoebe had gone to the library herself, she had decided to go and help, and soon enough, Hermione told her the whole story about the Chamber of Secrets, after she'd gotten Professor Binns to tell her.

According to the story, Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders at Hogwarts, had argued with the other founders over whether anyone less than pureblooded should be allowed into Hogwarts. He didn't think there should be any muggleborns allowed (many Slytherin students felt this way, and as a result, there was only one muggleborn Slytherin, and only a handful of half-bloods). He'd lost, and as a result, he'd left, but he had a secret chamber hidden in the school where there was some kind of deadly creature. The creature would only be unleashed when the true heir of Slytherin returned and opened the Chamber. The creature would attack the people that were the "least worthy" to learn magic first – in other words, the muggleborns.

Harry and his friends suspected Draco was the Heir. Phoebe heard it from Hermione, and she immediately asked Helga for her opinion, since she shared a common room.

"That's definitely not it." Helga said bluntly. "Blondie's just a show-off who acts tough to make people think he's capable of that. Yeah, he's got that pureblood thing, but no way would he unleash a monster, he'd freak out and think it would turn on him." She laughed.

Of course, the first-years didn't hear everything that the trio of second-years were doing, but Phoebe continued to research. But what everyone was most looking forward to was the first Quidditch match.

It was Gryffindor vs Slytherin, so Harry and Draco were going up against each other. Most people knew of their intense rivalry, and pretty much the whole school turned out to watch the match. But halfway through, one of the two Bludgers began chasing Harry for no reason. It just targeted him the whole time. It was a close match, but Draco decided to taunt Harry and he was so engrossed in it that he didn't realize the Snitch was right next to him, which lost the match. The Bludger broke Harry's arm, but he still got the Snitch and won the match for Gryffindor.

That was also the day a student was Petrified. Colin Creevey was found frozen that night, camera in hand. Everyone knew that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, all right. Lila and Ginny seemed especially shaken by the loss of their friend, but no one knew why. Lila still smiled as much as usual, but a few people noticed that it was more empty than usual. Ginny just looked pale and drawn most of the time.

Rumours about Harry being the Heir were still circulating through the Hufflepuff students. One of the muggleborn second-year boys was being much too careful not to look at anyone in Gryffindor. Arnold was so close to this, that he'd noticed.

"This whole thing is just crazy." he remarked to Sid one day at breakfast. "If there really is some kind of creature that attacked Colin, then I doubt someone was controlling it."

"Well, I think there is a monster, and someone in this school has to be controlling it! Otherwise, it would've attacked more people!" Sid replied. "And it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the so-called Boy Who Lived when no one else could was the culprit. He was the first one to know when Colin was attacked, not to mention Colin's been following him around all year. And why was he the first to find the cat?"

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this." Arnold said in his usual calm tone. He wasn't really as sure as he made out, but then, he always acted calm unless he was in immediate danger, no matter what. And if everyone else in his house was panicking, it was up to him not to panic.

**Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, it's hard keeping up with all the characters! Please review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Now, to continue...**

**Thank you for reviewing, BettyAwesome715.**

Christmas drew near, and it was time for people to sign up for staying. A few of the second years, including Harry's group, as well as Draco and his two minions, Crabbe and Goyle, were signed up. One or two Ravenclaws also decided to stay, and all of the Weasleys were staying. Helga also decided to stay, as she didn't especially want to spend Christmas with her neglectful parents, especially as Olga was going to be there, and she didn't want to have to spend the whole holiday competing with her perfect older sister.

In fact, quite a few of the American PS 118 students were staying, as only the purebloods and a few halfbloods had their houses connected to the international Floo network, which was the only completely safe way for the students to travel (international side-along Apparition was too risky). So Rhonda and a few others were going, but all of the muggleborns and halfbloods from America except Arnold were staying. Arnold wanted to leave, as he hadn't spent much time with his parents, since it wasn't so long since he'd only found them. So this meant that apart from Arnold, the only PS 118 students leaving for Christmas were Lila, Rhonda, Nadine, and Gerald.

Lila and Ginny talked over whether which of them should take the diary. "Um..you take it." Ginny said. "I'm a...I don't know...things are happening, and I think...I think there's something strange about it."

Lila had only written in the diary a few times. She shrugged. "It doesn't feel like that to me." she said. "I find it just ever so reassuring to have someone write back to me."

Just before Christmas, a Duelling Club was set up. None of the first-years went, but the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs soon heard everything that happened from the second-years. Word was that a snake had come out of Draco Malfoy's wand, and Harry had talked to it. He was a Parselmouth, which meant he had a gift to talk to snakes, which was rare and was usually the mark of a Dark wizard. The snake had tried to attack one of the Hufflepuffs, a muggleborn called Justin. Most people said that Harry had encouraged it, although Harry himself insisted that all he'd done was tell the snake to back off. Still, rumours were circulating around. Almost everyone thought Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, especially after Justin was found Petrified.

Not everyone did. The Weasley twins kept saying things like "Harry's off to have a cup of tea with his fanged servant in the Chamber of Secrets" and "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through", laughing the whole time, thinking it was ludicrous. Percy told them off a bit, but they didn't listen. Ginny seemed seriously disturbed and kept whimpering at them to stop.

Lila was starting to get worried, too. After Justin was attacked, she seemed to notice what Ginny meant about the diary. Ever since she'd continued writing in it, she and Ginny had found themselves in different places around the school for no apparent reason. Ginny found herself with feathers all over her robes, and Lila found herself in a passageway she'd never been in before.

In the end, the girls made a pact to get rid of it. Ginny promised to throw it away during the holidays, and Lila happily said goodbye.

Christmas was pretty uneventful, for the most part. It was nice that Helga was able to just hang out with Phoebe without getting whispers and stares from the other Ravenclaws. There was only one girl left, a sixth year, and she didn't care what a first-year was doing, hanging out with a Slytherin girl.

Christmas Day was quiet for everyone. However, in the evening, Helga witnessed something very interesting. She was in the Slytherin common room, trying to read in the gloomy light, when Draco came in with Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy looked over at the girl. "Do you mind getting lost, Pataki?" he sneered. "I'd rather you don't make a pathetic attempt at defending any more blood traitors and Mudbloods."

"Me, defend people?" Helga scowled back. "It's my common room, too, blondie. If you have a problem with it, why not get your precious father to force the Sorting Hat to re-sort me, it'll do both of us a favour."

"Well, I'd like to." Draco retorted. "You're an embarrassment to the whole house, hanging out with that Japanese Mudblood girl and staring at that Hufflepuff. And stop calling me blondie!" He'd made the second part up completely, but Helga reacted defensively. Arnold was a Hufflepuff.

"Listen, you prissy little rich boy, I've had enough of you!" she hissed, taking him by surprise enough to slam him into the wall. "If you ever tell ANYONE, I will personally rip out your tongue and charm it to strangle you!"

Draco smirked when he realized she actually had a crush on a Hufflepuff boy. "_Or girl." _his mind whispered. "_Pataki could easily be a lesbian. She's got the looks and the hobbies."_

"And you can lay off Phoebe, too," Helga added, "Unless you want to be in so much pain you'll never be able to ride a broomstick again!"

Strangely enough, Crabbe and Goyle were acting even more stupid than usual, and they didn't even crack their knuckles and threaten to attack Helga. It caught the younger girl's attention, especially when Crabbe seemed to be angry at Draco for saying something about the Weasleys, and then saying he hoped that the creature from the Chamber would kill Hermione. But then, she watched as Crabbe's hair went red and Goyle seemed to have a similar scar to Harry's fading onto his forehead. They immediately made a run for it.

That same evening, Hermione was sent to the hospital wing. Some people wouldn't have made the connection, but it did seem strange that Crabbe suddenly had Ron's hair, Goyle had Harry's scar, and Hermione had to go to the infirmary on the same night. It sounded like the trio had been up to something. As Christmas break ended, and the other students returned to school, Helga couldn't help but wonder what had happened that night.

**I hope you liked that chapter! Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's my update! Thank you, again, for your review, BettyAwesome715!**

The first thing Lila asked Ginny when she got back to school was "Did you get rid of...it?"

Ginny nodded. "I flushed it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

Lila had never been in that particular bathroom, but she'd heard of Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a self-pitying Ravenclaw girl who was about thirteen when she died. People generally avoided the bathroom because it was usually flooded from Myrtle's crying and no one wanted to have her wailing while they were in there. Lila had basically avoided the bathroom once she worked out which one it was. But if Ginny had flushed the diary, it was pretty likely that no one would find it. Myrtle wouldn't be interested in it, and it was very unlikely that anyone else would go in there and pick it up.

Things seemed to get a bit less worrying after Christmas. Everyone was working harder than ever, but the attacks seemed to stop. Lila and Ginny seemed happier, too. As January became February, Harry stopped being under so much suspicion, while Hermione was back in classes, no one knowing why she'd been in the hospital wing at all. Well, there were rumours going around about her turning into a cat, but no one really believed it.

However, Valentine's Day was approaching, and Lockhart was planning. It was a shock to everyone when on February the 14th, he dressed in pink robes, decorated the Great Hall to match, and had dwarfs delivering everyone's Valentines throughout the day.

Everyone grimaced at the amount of pink at breakfast time, even Helga (who still dressed in pink and always wore her bow) especially when Pansy Parkinson from second year taunted her (probably because Pansy wanted to be in Draco's favour).

"Hey, Pataki!" she yelled. "Nice bow! Did you think it would attract more Valentines, maybe from that Hufflepuff kid Draco's been telling us about?"

Helga visibly blushed with anger and embarrassment, looking like she wanted to kill Pansy. As it was, she flicked a spoonful of milk-soaked cereal at her, which hit the dark-haired girl's fringe, making Pansy squeal in shock and anger.

Luckily, one of the teachers stopped her from retaliating, and snapped at Helga "Ten points from Slytherin, Miss Pataki."

The Valentines were delivered to students in-between classes, mostly. It wasn't the most gratifying experience to anyone involved, although it was flattering that they had an admirer.

As it happened, Helga didn't receive any Valentines, but she had sent one to Arnold anonymously. She didn't have enough courage to write one of her poems in it, though, so she simply wrote "_Arnold, be my Valentine. Forever and always." _

Rhonda received tons of Valentines, mostly from the Slytherin boys she'd charmed. But then, she also received more than one from Curly, who still hadn't given up on her. He still harboured an obsessive love for her. They were signed, so the minute she'd finished reading them, she sought him out, before tearing up the Valentines pointedly, and saying "That's what I think of you and your stupid little Valentines," before storming off again.

"Aw, come on, Rhonda!" Curly called after her. "You know you secretly adore me!"

Rhonda turned back for one moment to yell "Well, think again, you delusional Mudblood!" Then she walked off again without a second glance, not caring that she'd been so cruel.

The most hilarious Valentine was Harry's. He was sent a singing Valentine, and the dwarf had to tackle him to the ground to get him to listen to it. A whole lot of people committed the rhyme to memory:

"_His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard_

_I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."_

Everyone burst out laughing. Ginny and Lila passed by, looking pale, with dark circles under their eyes. As they passed, Draco called after Ginny. "Hey, She-Weasel! I don't think Potter liked your Valentine much!"

Lila put an arm around Ginny and turned around to tell Draco "Leave Ginny alone, please. You're being ever so mean."

"And you, Sawyer, are 'ever so' annoying." Draco mocked. "Learn to talk like you're from this decade and not like a little girl from the 1940s, blood-traitor."

Both girls ignored that comment and went into class.

Although there hadn't been any attacks for a couple of months, Phoebe still felt uneasy. She confessed her worries to Hermione, who nodded. "The Heir's still out there." she said.

A few days before Gryffindor's Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Lila had a shock. She found Ginny sitting on her bed, writing in the diary she'd claimed to get rid of.

"Ginny, I thought you disposed of that thing!" she cried.

"I did, but somehow Harry picked it up. I saw him with it, so I had to take it back before it did anything to him. I had to even go through his stuff in his dorm."

Lila held out her hand. "I need to talk to him. Pass." Ginny handed the diary over.

Lila wrote neatly "_No more games, Riddle. What are you doing to us?"_

No answer. The paper remained blank.

"_I know you're there. Did you do anything to Harry?"_

Still nothing appeared. Lila sighed and wrote "_Fine. I'll just come out and say it. Do you know more about the Chamber of Secrets than you're letting on?"_

Finally, there was an answer. "_Why, Lila, you're getting very perceptive. Don't worry, you have no need to think about that. All I did was tell Harry who opened it last time. He's still here, too."_

Ginny read it over Lila's shoulder. The two girls looked at each other. "I don't know what he means." Ginny whispered. "I thought...Lila, I think I'm the one attacking everyone!"

Lila shook her head. "No, I thought...I'm oh so sure that I'm the one who's been doing it."

People had been relaxing as the attacks grew less frequent, and Harry faced less coldness every day. The attack on Justin had been the last one. Peeves, who'd made up a song about Harry killing students, had finally stopped singing it whenever he ran into Harry.

But then, on the day of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match was meant to happen, something caused the game to be cancelled.

**Wait until the next chapter!**


End file.
